It may seem like a strange thing to say — especially in light of the claim by a leading stockbroker last week that the country is officially out of recession — but in some ways, this downturn has been good for us. Of course it is awful, terrible in the many ways it is hitting people in the pocket, in terms of job security, the desperate negative equity situation, fear for the future, and the general air of anxiety it has generated in society. At the same time, now that we have grown used to having to put up with all of these new stresses and are no longer playing the designer-name-keeping-up-with-the-Joneses game, we are being challenged on other levels and what is coming to the fore is our creativity.
Irish people are wonderfully creative. We are gifted in our capacity to worm our way in and out of situations according to what value we put on them, and once we see an opportunity, we tend to dive straight in to capitalise to the maximum.
In terms of media exposure Mayo is in optimum drive these days, enjoying bucket-loads of attention, and this is in no small thanks to the genius ability of so many here to talk ourselves up even in times of adversity. Anyone with an ear for news or an eye for a story couldn’t fail to notice the proliferation of Mayo issues hitting the national stage these days. Just this week the Pat Kenny RTE radio show came to town not just once, but twice, in a hard-hitting series focusing on the realities of living through the downturn.
The first programme focused on the dire state of the N5 Westport to Longford road as featured in the Mayo Advertiser last week but report number two was much more upbeat, highlighting the town and community of Westport as an example of how to muddy through hard times with a smile. Most striking was the honesty of the contributions, which began with Brian Quinn of Fáilte Ireland confirming that the tourist industry in the town was resilient due to the fact that many of the businesses were family run, while Joe Corcoran of the Westport Plaza and Castlecourt hotels candidly admitted how tough times really are as hoteliers are forced to drop their rates by at least 20 per cent to compete with the ‘bank-owned’ NAMA hotels. Happily he also showed fierce determination to rally against potential job losses by clever scheduling and co-ordination of staff between duty schedules in the two hotels.
“People are still getting married,” he said, adding that booking rates for weddings are currently as high as they were in the boom times — good news indeed.
While Joe Gilmore of Ireland West Airport reported that the ash cloud had cost Knock €250,000 but things were returning to normal now, Cathal Huges of Port West and Hotel Westport celebrated the recent expansion into prime retail premises on Suffolk Street in Dublin. “An empty premises is no good to anyone, the landlord was happy to have us,” he told reporter Valerie Cox, outlining a savvy approach to rent negotiation.
As Sean O’Grady of O’Grady’s pub rightly concluded, it’s all just a matter of survival now. “We don’t know who is going to survive but we try our best and we’ll just keep trying.” And so we must.
